A NEW BEGINNING – 5th Romanian Film Festival in New York

The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York presents the 5th Annual Romanian Film Festival in New York City, this year entitled A NEW BEGINNING, to take place from December 3rd-5th at Tribeca Cinemas. Each year, the festival presents the best and most recent films from Romania’s unique and critically exalted national body of contemporary cinema to New York audiences. This year’s edition features new works from filmmakers who were at the forefront of the “Romanian New Wave,” such as Cristi Puiu, Radu Muntean and Răzvan Rădulescu, as well as debut features from Constantin Popescu and Bobby Păunescu. And, the highly-anticipated new work from Andrei Ujică (Videograms of a Revolution), The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu, will be presented as the opening night film.

The festival will conclude with the landmark Romanian film Carnival Scenes by master filmmaker Lucian Pintilie, featuring legendary Romanian stage and screen actor Victor Rebengiuc (Medal of Honor, Tuesday, After Christmas), who is also the honored guest is this year’s festival. The festival also includes a special section entitled Women on the Move, focusing on the representation of Women in post-communist society.

Special events at this year’s festival include a presentation of a special issue of Film Criticism magazine focusing on New Romanian Cinema, and two one-man shows staged in the Tribeca Cinemas lounge bar.

Festival curator Mihai Chirilov states, “New Romanian Cinema was born in 2001 and as of 2005 became the thing on the international film scene. So, 2010 is a natural time for a new beginning. After a 5-year gap since his worldwide breakthrough with The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu, Cristi Puiu is back with his new and anticipated film, Aurora, the very title of which implies a new beginning. Andrei Ujică’s The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu, is closing a chapter of the recent Romanian history, offering a brand new, hotly debated and much-needed perspective on the national anti-hero. Most of the new films’ characters are longing for a new start, be it the unfaithful husband in Tuesday, After Christmas, the guilty father in Medal of Honor, or the women challenged by the contexts of their lives in both Francesca and First of All, Felicia. Challenging the aesthetic of the Romanian New Wave as we know it, with a focus on characters stuck in limbo, this year’s abundant crop of New Romanian Cinema is the perfect mirror of a society at a crossroads desperately looking for a new path to follow.”

Also in attendance at the festival will be actresses Monica Bârlădeanu (Francesca), Mariana Mihuţ (Carnival Scenes), Ozana Oancea (First of All, Felicia, Stuck on Christmas), director/producer Bobby Păunescu (Francesca, Aurora), producer Andrei Creţulescu (Merry Circus, The Shukar Collective Project, The World According to Ion B.), producer/director Tudor Giurgiu, director of Transilvania International Film Festival, Professor Vladimir Tismăneanu, and film critic Alex Leo Şerban.
The Romanian Film Festival in New York City was initiated in 2006, and is a partnership of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York (RCINY) with the Transilvania International Film Festival and Tribeca Cinemas.

The Romanian Film Festival in New York City was initiated in 2006, and is a partnership of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York (RCINY) with the Transilvania International Film Festival and Tribeca Cinemas. Initiated and chaired by Corina S,uteu, director of RCINY, the festival selection committee also includes Mihai Chirilov, curator, and Oana Radu, RCINY deputy director. The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York RCINY aims to promote Romanian culture throughout the U.S. and internationally, and to build sustainable, creative partnerships among American and Romanian cultural organizations. The Institute acts as a catalyst and proponent of initiatives across artistic fields, striving to foster understanding, cultural diplomacy, and scholarly discourse by enriching public perspectives of contemporary Romanian culture. RCINY is currently the president of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) network in New York City. For the past five years, RCINY has been an active enabler and supporter of the presentation and promotion of Romanian cinema in the U.S.

All films will be screened in the original language with English subtitles, introduced by Romanian film critics.